Ghost of You
by xsh0wmethestarsx
Summary: Clara Oswald has died again, this time leaving the doctor to take care of their two girls. All are finding it hard to believe she has gone and may possibly not return...
1. Chapter 1

The doctor stared at the two pairs of eyes that were fixed on him. Going up to one of the girls he offered. "Emily?" he laughed as her face turned into a frown.

"Laura!" she corrected, whilst her sister burst into a fit of giggles beside her.

**_"Twins Clara, two beautiful baby girls."_**

"Sorry girls." He said, "Not quite as brilliant at telling you apart as Mummy was, but I'll get there one day."

"Mummy was so amazing she could even tell from the back!" Emily pointed out.

"I struggle with the front so let's not even discuss the back Emily."

He watched as the girl gave a small grin, very similar to Clara's.

It had been 3 months since Clara had passed away '_again_'. He promised he'd look after the girls, their girls until he found her again, and after looking for 3 months he was starting to believe she had really gone.

The doctor looked down at the twins. They were the perfect replicas of their Mother, his Wife. He gave a heavy sad sigh before looking at the console screen. The TARDIS flashed up the time for the Doctor and he gave a small moan in protest. It was bedtime.

"Right Girls," he began. "It's bedtime." He closed his eyes as he heard footsteps run away from him he reopened them to see the girls begin to dart down the stairs towards their room. The doctor frowned, this is a first, he thought, they normally run to anywhere but their room. Confused, the doctor followed his daughters into their room and was quite pleased when he saw the pair tucked up in their bed. Laura on the top, Emily on the bottom.

**_"Bunk beds Clara, they have to have bunk beds."_**

**_"Why doctor why?"  
He grinned at her. "Cause bunk beds are cool."_**

He leaned over and pushed back Laura's fringe so he was able to kiss her forehead, he then leaned down and did the same to Emily. "Goodnight girls, I love you." He told them.

"Love you two dad!" Emily called back.

"Love you more dad!" Laura argued.

He laughed at the girls. "Come on," he said. "sleep." He turned off the light and closed the door. He stood outside for a minute listening.

"Goodnight Mum." Laura whispered to the thin air, but it was loud enough for the doctor to hear. "I miss you."

He then listened as Laura began to cry. He wandered if he should go in, but it made him feel better when Emily began to comfort her sister.

"I miss her too Laura, but we have to be brave." She said, comforting her sister.

The Doctor knew Laura was still struggling to adapt to Clara not being there. Laura was always her mother's girl whereas Emily was his. That's what made the duo so different. Laura was always with Clara wherever she was. And now that she's not there, Laura felt lost and alone.

The doctor stayed at the door a few minutes, leaving when he was certain that Laura had been alright, he made his way back to his room. He quickly changed into his pyjamas and climbed into the bed. He rolled over to face Clara's side. Her pillow still smelled like her. He pulled it close and hugged onto it. And for the first time in 3 months, the doctor began to cry.


	2. Chapter 2

Laura woke up bright and early the following day. She could hear a clattering noise coming from the control room, she presumed it was her dad's clumsiness, but she still got up to investigate anyway. She climbed out of bed and picked up her dressing gown from the hook, under her name. She slipped it on and tied a bow at the front.

**_"Mummy, I can tie bows now!" Laura exclaimed._**

**_"Can you really?" Clara asked picking up the girl and spinning her._**

Laura, careful not to disturb Emily, opened up the bedroom and wandered along the TARDIS corridors until she reached the control room. She stopped in the door way and yawned.

The doctor laughed. "Good morning Laura?" he was unsure whether he had picked the right name.

"Emily," she joked.

The doctor frowned. "Don't you lie to me missy! Your dressing gown has your name sown down the arm." He told her picking her up.

Laura gazed down at her arm. "Oh yeah," she giggled as she lightly traced the embroidery sown onto the left arm. She brought her face up to stare into the doctors green eyes. She could see that he had been crying too, like her. "Daddy?" she asked. "Daddy, do you miss mummy?" she asked in an unsure voice.

The doctor placed Laura down on the ground and then came down to her level and looked at her. "Very much Laura, I miss her very much." He sighed. "Your mother Laura, she meant everything to me. She even saved my life a few times."

"Did you ever save hers?" Laura asked, hoping for a fairy tale ending.

"I did once Laura." The doctor stood up and took Laura's hand, he led her to the TARDIS doors, and he opened them and pushed the girl forward. "Look Laura. The universe, it's a big place and even though your mum isn't here with us now." He gave a small gesture. "She's out there somewhere."

Laura smiled in appreciation.

Emily had heard her sister laughing and had appeared in the control room. "But why isn't she here?" Emily asked quietly.

The doctor closed the TARDIS doors; he looked at the girls stood side by side. He kneeled down to their level. "But that's where you're wrong Emily. Your mother is here."

Both the girls gave confused faces.

The doctor reached up both his hands and pointed at their hearts. "She's here forever in our hearts."

The girls both placed hands on top of his.

Emily's stomach then gave a loud growl that made Laura dissolve into a fit of giggles beside her.

The doctor stood up and headed up the stairs. "Right, thanks for that Emily. I'd better make a start on breakfast shall i?"

Both the girls nodded.

"Go and get washed and dressed and meet me in the kitchen for breakfast in 20 minutes then." He told the pair as they walked to their room.

Emily walked in first, shortly followed by Laura, who slipped of her dressing gown ad hung it on her hook. Emily made her way over to the wardrobe and stared at all the items of clothing hung there. She sighed. "Laura," she said. "I've never been good at picking out clothes that match." She admitted.

Laura turned to look at Emily before admitting. "Neither was I, it was always mum's job to make sure our clothes matched." She walked over to the wardrobe. "But it doesn't mean we can't try." She offered reaching out and grabbing a white t-shirt and her red dress dungarees.

"I know these go," she said. "Mum loved this outfit." She smiled before taking of her pyjama t-shirt and replacing it with her white one. She then put on the dress and got Emily to hand her the straps, once they were done up she pulled of her shorts.

Emily stared at the wardrobe, before picking out a pair of denim shorts and a light blue t-shirt. She got dressed fairly quickly. Both the girls smiled at each other, and then they laughed.

"You still have bed hair." Emily said through giggles. "It looks funny."

"Well have you seen yours?" Laura replied. "It looks worse!"

They both stopped laughing and ran out the room and along the hall to the bathroom. They picked up a brush and quickly combed their hair.

"Girls!" the doctor called. "Breakfast is ready."

The girls ran up through the control room and into the kitchen. They sat down at the table as he served them each a pancake with Nutella. The doctor was about to sit down when he heard a knock at the TARDIS door. Both girls looked up at him. He frowned.

"That's not right," He said. "Were floating in space, Excuse me girls." He said as he got up from the table. The girls continued to eat their breakfast not even noticing the doctor walking out.

The doctor walked into the control room and quickly had a gaze at the screen. It told him that they were in London and it was todays date. The doctor frowned at the console unit. "I never told you to land," he said looking confused. Then he heard the knock again.

Laura strutted down the stairs to the door, Emily followed but instead she walked over to the seat and sat on it.

"Well if you won't answer it I will." She boldly told him. He laughed and followed her to the door and watched as she pulled it open. The girl at the door gave a small gasp in shock before her mouth dropped. Her sister, sitting on the chair, leaned forward to get a better look at who it was before she too let a small gasp escape her lips. The doctor tapped Laura on the shoulder and quietly reminded her to close her mouth.

"Hello Doctor," The person said before bending down to pick up the shocked girl. "Hello Laura." Her mouth dropped again. She turned to face the doctor in the person's arms.

"But you said she was," Laura said

He nodded.

"Then how is she..." Emily began

He looked at them both. "It's all to do with the magic of time and space."


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note:**

**Sorry for a short chapter. I have a really bad migraine, but I still wanted to write. I will try to upload a chapter everyday! **

**Anyway, Enjoy **

**x**

* * *

Clara pressed a kiss to Laura's forehead. "Close your mouth sweetheart, I'm not the dentist." She said tickling Laura's tummy. She knew it was a weak spot. She grinned when the child squirmed in her arms and begged her to stop.

Emily got of the chair and slowly walked over to them.

Clara put Laura down and watched as she ran over to the Doctor. She gestured for Emily to come closer. Kneeling down to the girl's height she looked at her in the eyes, before the girl collapsed into her arms. Clara pulled her close.

After a few minutes the girl pulled away.

"Girls," The doctor said, "Go finish your breakfast, please." He told them nicely.

The girls gave Clara worried looks.

"It's okay; I'll be here when you get back." She assured them.

Once the girls left, the doctor walked up to Clara and he pulled her into a very tight hug. He breathed in her scent. He smiled as he remembered it. He pulled away and pressed a kiss to her lips.

She smiled at the affection.

"3 months, I never thought I'd find you." He told her, pulling her close again.

"3 months, Wow!" Clara said. "Imagine waiting 29 years."

"Sorry forgot you took the longer way round." He smiled as she laughed.

"29 years I had to wait to see my little girls again," She frowned and pulled away from the hug "How are they?"

The doctor pulled her close yet again. "Fine," He told her pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "We just might need to explain why your back."

Clara sighed. "I doubt they will ask, you know our girls, just go with the flow." She closed her eyes and rested on the doctor. She missed these moments. She stood upright and pulled away from him when she heard the twins footsteps come charging along the hall.

"Sorry!" Emily said. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked at her parents. It had been a while since she had seen them together. Laura kept on running. She ran down another flight of stairs, heading to the library. She stopped in the door way.

"Emily!" Laura yelled. "Come on Emily, we are going to be late. River hates waiting!"

Clara frowned. 'River' she mouthed in confusion to the doctor.

He held up a finger indicating to wait a minute.

He waited until the girls had left the control room before he told her.

"River Song, my ex," He started. "After you 'died' I decided I needed to get the girls educated and I decided I wasn't going to put them into a primary school on earth, so River agreed she would tutor them 3 days a week in the library."

Clara nodded, and then she smiled. "I' glad you chose to educate them, and I like the idea of River doing it, she knows a lot, and hopefully she will teach them well."

"Oh, she has!" the doctor explained. "Laura can practically name every constellation in the sky, you should ask her to show you sometime, and Emily is quite the talented artist. Most of her pictures are in frames along the halls and all over the fridge."

"I'll have a look later," She told him. "I've missed so much of their lives."

"Clara," The doctor said. "To them you were only gone three months."

"I know, but for me it felt like a lifetime." Clara sighed, it had been a lifetime.


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note:**

**I'm sorry I didn't post this weekend, was too busy. I nearly didn't post tonight as I had two teeth taken out and I wasn't feeling very good after, but I feel better now and I decided to write. So yeah, enjoy chapter 4. **

**x**

* * *

Clara peered into the library. She smiled when she saw Emily bent over a desk working and Laura sat on a beanbag reading.

River had finished today's lessons, so Clara was free to walk into the library.

"Hey girls," Clara said, "What you doing?"

Laura looked up from her book, whilst Emily stayed bent over her work.

"I'm reading a book," Laura told her.

Clara walked over to the beanbag, she gestured for Laura to stand up. When Laura rose, Clara quickly sat down in her spot and pulled Laura onto her lap. "Read to me Laura," she told the girl, pressing a kiss to the back of her head.

Emily looked up from her work. She smiled at her sister and mother who were sat together on the beanbag. She pulled put a clean piece of paper, and studied the pair, before leaning over to produce an image on the page.

Clara smiled as Laura read at the last few pages of the book to her. Closing the book, Clara looked at Laura and told her. "Go get another one, I'll read it to you."

Laura jumped off Clara's lap. She skipped along the rows of bookshelves until she found a book she liked. Taking it from the shelf, Laura ran back to Clara and set herself in her lap again.

"101 Places to see." Clara read, "You know, this was my favourite book when I was your age, it belonged to my mother," Clara opened the front page and showed Laura the list of numbers under the name Ellie Ravenwood. "See," she then turned over the page. "Then it belonged to me." She said running her fingers down the ages that had been crossed out.

Laura sighed, and then rested back against Clara, as Clara turned over the page and began to read to her.

Emily, who had been drawing, stopped to listen to Clara read. She had missed the sound of her voice, and she was glad to hear it again. She crossed her arms on the table, and then leant forward to rest her chin atop them. Listening as Clara told them the story.

The doctor was passing through the library when he heard Clara's voice reading to the children. He smiled and placed his things down before walking over to the table where Emily was sat. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat on it.

Emily had pushed her finished drawing to the chair where the doctor was sat. When he sat down she quickly tried to get it back.

"No, Emily honey," He said. "This is beautiful." He told her.

Emily gave a small smile. "It's of mummy and Laura. They were sat there like they are now, but Laura was reading to mummy."

Clara finished reading and closed the book. She then gazed up at the doctor and Emily. "Is something wrong?" she asked the pair, shifting Laura off her lap so she could stand.

The doctor took Emily's picture and held it up. "Look at what she drew Clara," he explained.

Clara gasped. "Emily, that's beautiful, I didn't know you could draw like that!" she cried rushing to pull Emily into a hug.

"I drew it for you mummy," The girl said quietly to Clara.

Clara smiled and took the picture off the doctor. "I will treasure this forever." She said clutching the picture. "You know what, I think I have a frame for that somewhere." she said rushing out of the library to her room. Emily jumped down of the seat and followed.

Laura gave a sad sigh from the beanbag she was sat on. Her fingers lightly traced the title of the new book she was holding, before she opened it.

The doctor watched as her eyes scanned the page, taking all the information in. "Laura," He said.

The girl looked up from her book and glared at him.

"You alright?"

Laura nodded then she marked her page, and stood up. She placed the book on the floor before walking over to him. Once she was stood at his side she wrapped her arms around his waist tightly, until he bent down and pulled her up into his arms. "Love you daddy," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder.

The doctor kissed her temple. "Love you too baby girl."

A small robot rushed passed the doctor and Laura.

"Must Clean Room, Library," It called.

Laura took her head of the doctor's shoulder and she watched as the robot began to tidy the library. She shifted out of the doctors arms when the robot picked up her book and went to return it to the right shelf. "No," she cried. "Give it back, I was reading that!" she sprinted after the robot.

The doctor laughed.

Clara walked back into the library and saw the doctor laughing. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the doctor.

"I'm pretty sure she hates that robot, always cleaning away her things when she hasn't finished with them."

Clara smiled, "Well, she is going to have to keep things tidy if I'm staying on board"

The doctor pulled her into his arms. "Come here you," he said as he kissed her lips.

Laura had gotten back her book, and she was watching her parents. She smiled because she knew they were happy, and if they were happy she was happy too.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors Note:**

**Sorry for the very short Chapter! I am currently very unwell and I am trying to prepare for a German speaking exam, which isn't going well. but I still decided to write!**

**This chapter explains why Clara has returned, so enjoy **

**x**

* * *

"Goodnight Laura," Clara whispered planting a soft kiss to the girl's forehead. She then bent down and did the same to Emily. "Goodnight Emily," She stood up and left the room.

The doctor walked in and startled both the girls. They both sat up and looked at him. "Relax," he told them. "Only me,"

"Daddy," Emily whispered, and the doctor sat down beside her. "Daddy, were confused."

"About what sweetie?" he asked.

Laura pulled the duvet off her little body and shifted to the edge of the bed. She swung her legs over the ladder and began to climb down. Once reaching the bottom she settled herself in the doctor's lap.

"Mummy," Both the girls said quietly.

"What about Mummy?"

"She died," Laura silently admitted. "She died, we saw her die, but now she's out there walking around the TARDIS like nothing ever happened." She pointed to their bedroom door.

The doctor sighed, he knew this was coming.

"Your mother girls, she's a great women, saved my life once before."

Laura rolled her eyes, she had heard this before.

"How?" Emily asked.

"A few years ago, before you two were born, I was dying once, your mother she jumped into my time stream, producing echoes of herself to save me. " He glanced at the twins, eager eyed, waiting, listening.

"Her echoes spread out along my time stream. They were there when I needed her most."

"Like when you were in trouble?" Emily asked.

He nodded, "Yes like when I was in trouble. They were there until I found the real version of her. I came across her about 9 years ago. We met, fell in love, got married and started a family," He smiled at the girls. "But one day I lost her, and until we find her again, her echo is here to keep us safe."

"But daddy," Laura questioned. "How do you know this isn't the real mummy?"

The doctor kissed the girls forehead before standing and placing her back in her bed. "Because Laura," he whispered in the girls ear. "The really mummy wouldn't have remembered."

"So daddy," Emily began. "That version of Mummy out there isn't really mummy?"

The doctor bent down to her level. "Sadly not Emily, but it doesn't mean you cannot love her."

Emily smiled. "I don't care who she is, she's my mummy and I will always love her."

The doctor laughed, Emily hadn't quite got it. He stood up and flicked off the light. "Goodnight girls," he said and left the room.


End file.
